I forgot...when we were in Ethiopia for court we noticed that Kayla did not use her legs at all. Then we met with her doctor and he informed us that she had "no use of her legs" and that they were very concerned about this and had run tests to see if she even had muscles developing. We honestly left Ethiopia not knowing if Kayla would walk. We had high hopes because after just a few minutes of playing purposefully with her legs, she started to respond, but we just didn't know.
When we went back in December and put Kayla on the ground we were amazed that she would stay up on her hands and knees. Imagine our shock when she started crawling!
Now that we've been home three months, it's hard to remember how far she's come sometimes and not get irritated with how far she hasn't come. She's 16 months old and still not walking and she has very low muscle tone in her legs and stomach, so walking is a ways off yet. I would like to just be able to say "YES" to the 20 people a day that ask me if she's walking yet (okay, it's not really 20 a day, but it feels like it sometimes). I would also just like Kayla to walk and so I get frustrated sometimes with her lack of progress because I forgot.
I forgot that Kayla had no use of her legs just 5 months ago and that we did not know if she would walk. Last night I took Kayla to church with me to drop off the boys and someone noticed her progress and reminded me. This man who used to be in the Bible study group I led while we were waiting to go get Kayla said, "Wasn't she not supposed to be able to do that?" Do what, you ask. Just look. Look what my baby is doing these days!She is standing on her own for up to 30 seconds at a time and she is SO proud of herself when she does it. Tonight we started working on getting her to understand that she has to move her feet and she thought about it, she really did. It'll take a while for her to take that first step but I know, I KNOW, that she will. I don't know if this is a miracle or not, but it feels like one to me.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
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2 comments:
That's awesome...and she's just adorable!
My daughter came home at 7.5mo with very little muscle tone in her legs...she was like a limp fish. The nannies basically put the babies in their cribs or bumbo seats, unless they were being fed...so they really have very little leg strenthening exercising, if any. But, regardless of her past, she started walking by 10.5mo...only 3 months later.
Your little one is just as determined! ;-)
Ohh, I know. Drew didn't start walking until nearly 2 (low muscle tone) and Carissa is the same age as Kayla and is right about at the same stage as her (for no reasonable explination other than her heart surgery and laying around for 3 months). She does take maybe 2 steps and then flops down like she can't go on. Ahh these kids, making us wait. It is a challenge to have a child who is "behind" developmentally - and I'm sure our next one (from Ethiopia) will be as well, but, you are right, every little step is a small miracle (or sometimes a big one)! :)
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